I have just started out with a single species blueberry and I have lots of questions...
When am I meant to prune it?
Should I cut one-year old wood or will this fruit?
How do I take cuttings?
I have also read that they only use ammonium as a source in nitrogen and need constant moisture... are there any plant biologists out there that know this to be true?
Many thanks for any guidance :)
I've bought two blueberries this year but am leaving them well alone until next year.
you might find guide quite handy. it's where I got No. 2 plant from.
http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/handbook.php?osCsid=5273469de9a52bc8625c2cb77194573d (http://www.blackmoor.co.uk/handbook.php?osCsid=5273469de9a52bc8625c2cb77194573d)
I would only bother pruning to shape and not bother with that really just cut out any damaged wood - loads of moisture but make sure it's rainwater, so it's worth having a water butt just for them, and they need planting in acid loving soil - I use comfrey leaves to feed and they provide a good mulch as well
for cuttings (I would wait until the plant is well established) - take 12 in cuttings from the new seasons growth, leave a few buds on and plant deeply, up to half way, in pots. I've always found them quite difficult to strike, bit hit and miss
they are the only fruit I bother to net as the birds and mice love them as much as we do :)
I actually knocked a growing bit off one of mine, stuck it in the pot and it seems to have rooted already. Mind you that was about a month ago, not sure it would be that easy now.
;D
ooh lucky you, mind you mine looked excellent for several months until I came to replant them out optimistically - they had no roots on them at all :'(
Thanks everyone for the advice... I'll let it establish for a year before I prune.
Should I expect fruit on second-year wood?
hi si, here's the dope from Barnsdale Gardens to add to the welter of advice 8)
bbs start fruiting from 3 years old, get to full cropping from about 8 years old
the pruning objective is to make the bush into a nice open shape, then once the bush is established, remove four-year-old wood to make room for new. They cut off 1/5 to 1/4 of the length of the stems when they prune to encourage new wood.
water with rainwater, use sulphur chips to acidify if the soil tips above 4 - 5.5.
don't over-feed
hope this helps!
they were growing theirs in a container, and I hadn't appreciated what a great ornamental it is, lovely autumn colour. good luck si :)
According to the Dorset Blueberry Company:
<Choosing Blueberries-
Blueberries come in all different shapes, sizes, soil tolerances, vigour and flavour.
Although blueberries are generally supposed to be self fertile, we find customers with a single plant often come back to buy another because they get lots of flowers, but low fertilisation to produce fruit. We advise against having only 1 variety as the best pollination is done between more than one. Make sure your supplier provides plants whose flowering period overlaps.>
hth
Tricia
Cool 8) Thanks Tricia and Supersprout.
Can anyone advise on what size pot/container would be best for growing blueberries? I bought 1 year old plants in early summer and they are still in their nursery pots.
The one I saw at Barnsdale was a four year old plant in a pot about 15 inches across. Tip it out gently every year to see if it's getting rootbound, was the advice!
Thanks for that supersprout. For some reason, I thought that the bigs needed to be huge. Glad to hear it's not as I have a couple of pots I can use then.
I've got some young blueberry plants in the ground, but they are not doing much. It may be because of the soil acidity. I think that I'll try in pots with ericaceous compost. When would be the best time of year to do this?
If the leaves have dropped, probably now would be a good time when they're dormant.
If it were me I'd pop the pots into the cold greenhouse if they've just been transplanted, so they don't have additional pressure from too much frost ::)